


The Water's Embrace

by cherreyes



Category: 9 (2009)
Genre: 1 angsts over his failures, Canon Compliant, Gen, Terrible Coping Mechanisms, poor guy, tw implied suicide thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29766864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherreyes/pseuds/cherreyes
Summary: Alone in the throne room, 1 turns to his own mind for comfort in the only form he can find it in nowadays.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	The Water's Embrace

One stood alone in the throne room on an ordinary afternoon. Six was down the lift, and Eight was on watch on the roof of the Sanctuary. It was surprisingly rare for him to have time to himself like this, but what minutes he could grasp he made the most of.

He closed his eyes, and slowly, gently, the room started filling up with water. 

Ankle deep.

The carpet leading to his throne grew darker as the water soaked through it, and the pattern rippled beneath the waves.

Waist deep.

He felt his cape being lifted off his shoulders by the flood, floating on the surface behind him.

Neck deep.

Some of the objects in the room were being picked up by the rising water. The matchsticks in the corner, the calendar page and even the chessboard and all its pieces rose from the floor and up above. 

Then, he was under.

When submerged, the room that was often so harshly red, brown and yellow became gentle, tranquil and blue, like One was looking through a filter. Here, there was no more yelling, no more arguments, no more warnings, no more creaking of the floorboards, only the sound of water filling his audio receptors.

Six's countless drawings peeled off the walls and floated up to the light. However, eroded by the liquid, the paper slowly disintegrated, pieces breaking off until there was nothing left but a few shreds. They sank back down like snow. Faint, dappled sunlight, dyed green, red and amber by the stained glass window, fell in beams onto the floor like spilled paint.

Then and then only, One could feel truly weightless. The water took it all off him - the heavy hat, the tattered cape and scuffed brooch, everything. He no longer had to worry about being a leader, nor being a protector. He didn't even have to worry about being himself. All his memories, all his torment, all his guilt left him and was replaced by the swirling of water. In this cruel, cruel world, it was his only respite.

One reached both his hands out in front of him, towards the light from the window. It bathed the gnarled metal in rich jewel tones, covering the rust and scratches in ruby and emerald, and what was broken and ugly became almost beautiful. He watched his cape float up above, casting a rippling shadow onto the floor. Letting himself sink down in the water, One rested his head against the wooden planks, facing the ceiling. The flood had now completely risen to the top of the room, vanquishing any remaining air. 

He couldn't breathe.

But he didn't need to breathe. 

It was too much effort, anyway.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this safe, this comfortable in the world. Gunfire and devastation was all that he'd known when he was created. He heard it outside the thin walls of the first room, though it always seemed like someone tried to cover it up. One squinted as he tried to remember that someone….his creator. The one who gave him life, tore out a piece of his own soul and put it into him...and the one who should have protected him, should have been his warmth and comfort in a world devoid of it. Though he desperately clawed through his memories, all that came back were flashes of light, echoes of a voice and himself, merely half a day old, crying in the cold and begging him to come back. 

He never did.

One shook his head to dissipate the pain swelling up in his chest. He hadn't come here to remember, but to forget. Yet it seemed no matter what he tried, the past followed him around like his own shadow, and he didn't know any way to make it stop other than taking drastic measures. At least, that's what he told himself when the thoughts crept in, but part of him wondered if he was just lying to comfort himself. That's what his entire façade was - trying to pretend that he was noble, and formidable, when he was neither of those things. 

A chess piece, a king, drifted over him, and he hesitantly reached out and took it in his hands. It was painted white, though over years of disuse it was dull and dotted with scratches and chips. In a strange sort of way, he related to it. But he loosened his grip, and once again, the king continued its slow, aimless journey towards the wall.

In the water's embrace, he didn't have to pretend to be anything. It protected him, and understood him, and took away the pain. Gunfire, gas, machines, mistakes, all dissolved away. He wanted to drown here forever, floating amongst the paper and the matchsticks, until everyone forgot him and he didn't have to fail them anymore. Yes, that would be so wonderful-

"Uhh….. you okay?"

One opened his eyes, and the water drained away. The red and brown returned, and everything fell back to the floor in its correct position. Eight stood above him, hand resting on his blade, head tilted with a mixture of confusion and concern. 

"What are you doing inside?"

"Finished guard duty. 'N you?"

"Ah, I was, er…." One tried to think of a way to explain, but nothing came, so he instead frowned and retorted "It doesn't matter what I was doing."

How could he explain it, anyway?

Thankfully, 8, not being the kind to ask questions, simply shrugged and resumed his place beside the throne. Taking a breath, One sat down, looking down into his lap. For now, he was back in reality, in the old, dusty place he hailed as a sanctuary, yet still he longed for the water to fill the room again, drown everything out, and hold him gently in an eternal silence, just for him. No matter how far away that was.

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I had a blast writing this. It's my first time writing proper, thought out prose.
> 
> My main inspiration for this fanfic came from music. Specifically, the song Never Let Me Go by Florence and the Machine, and also to a lesser extent Yumemiteta no Atashi (The Me From a Dream) by Daoko. I absolutely love water based imagery. I've always found peace beneath the surface. It's like a different world, where sound is muffled by the water in your ears. I think One would find a strange kind of comfort in it. 
> 
> As for One's feelings, I got inventive with his relationship with the Scientist. He's clearly angry at being left with "nothing" and expected to right the wrongs of humanity. That would weigh down on him a lot. Obviously, One's the kind to believe in not showing weakness no matter what, especially not to people he presides over, but deep down it eats him up inside. I had fun with it.
> 
> I don't have much more left to say. I hope the writing did the talking. Please rate and review!! Tysm!


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